Cherokee Newspapers, 1828–1906: Tribal Voice of a People in Transition by Cullen Joe Holland (review)

A classic and often cited dissertation, Cullen Joe Holland’s insightful work is finally in print. Cherokee Newspapers, 1828–1906: Tribal Voice of a People in Transition chronicles the history of the Cherokee people through the lenses of the Cherokee Phoenix (New Echota, Georgia) and the Cherokee Advocate (Tahlequah, Oklahoma) during the most turbulent years in the history of the Cherokee Nation. Edited by James P. Pate, this monograph deftly places the development of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Indian newspaper in the United States, within the context of the removal era and clearly illustrates the important role the newspaper played in preserving Cherokee nationhood. The Cherokee Advocate picked up where the Cherokee Phoenix left off by covering the impact of the antebellum and Reconstruction eras on the Cherokee Nation as well as the attack of allotment and Oklahoma statehood on Cherokee sovereignty.

Although Holland’s text does not argue a historical thesis, it has contributed to our understanding of the Cherokees’ past. Since its completion in 1956, scholars have repeatedly consulted Holland’s dissertation due to its concise and straightforward presentation of historical events occurring within the Cherokee Nation and its description of the development of these two newspapers. Holland constructs an enlightening Cherokee perspective on their history as covered by these two newspapers. Organized into twelve chapters plus an introduction, this book provides insight into the Cherokee historical mindset that has proved valuable over time and will continue to do so. The addition of an index should make the text easier for researchers to mine. This monograph also contains a notes section and a bibliography. Although the secondary sources cited in the notes and bibliography are now dated, both sections continue to be excellent resources for initiating research on the Cherokee Nation, these landmark newspapers, and the advent of Indian and frontier journalism. Holland’s chronological approach simplifies the complex issues that faced the Cherokee Nation and these two newspapers during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and he lays bare the naked desire of Anglo-Americans for control of Indian resources and the role that United States Indian policy directly played in satiating those demands. Also of note is Holland’s examination of the internal workings of the newspapers, which reveals the intricate process and problems associated with operating a newspaper in the nineteenth century.

This book is a must-have for anyone seriously studying the Cherokee Phoenix, the Cherokee Advocate, or the Cherokee Nation, as well as for scholars of Native American responses to the implementation of United States Indian policy. It can and should be used in undergraduate and graduate courses covering this material. Moreover, the nonacademic reader will find this monograph easy to read and exceedingly informative.